It is often necessary to drain fluids from a patient or introduce liquid medications directly into a blood vessel of a patient. For longer term and more specialized needs, catheters or other devices are used. A catheter is typically a tube inserted through an orifice in the body or through an incision in the skin into a blood vessel in the patient's body, generally without surgery. A Foley catheter is a type of catheter that is inserted through a patient's urethra and into the bladder to drain urine from patients that are incontinent, bed ridden, or otherwise unable to urinate on their own.
Various catheters may remain in place in a patient for several weeks or months. It is important that movement of the catheter be minimized. If the catheter is not secured in place, it may be inadvertently displaced from the intended location or moved back and forth (pistoning), resulting in irritation or disruption of fluid or urine drainage from a patient or in disruption of proper introduction of medications to the patient. This can increase the potential for infection or bleeding at the catheter insertion site. If extensive movement occurs, the catheter could even come out of the patient, requiring re-insertion, often with hospitalization.
In the past, catheters were simply taped into place on the patient's skin. However, taping is time consuming and labor intensive. Tape also collects bacteria and must be frequently removed and replaced. More importantly, taping is not necessarily effective in securing a catheter in place. Sutures have also been used to attach a catheter to a patient. With sutures, the catheter is stitched onto the skin. Sutures, however, can also be a source of infection, can cause pain and inflammation, and can make it more difficult to clean around the incision site. Sutures also require time and skill to place, and can cause scarring.
More recently, manufactured catheter anchors or securing devices have come into more widespread use. These devices are designed to secure specific catheters in place. While various designs have been used, these devices generally have an adhesive-backed pad that bonds to the skin over a large area. The catheter is secured into or onto a catheter anchor designed for holding the catheter. These anchoring devices have various advantages over tape or sutures. However, engineering design challenges remain in providing reliable, secure, and efficient anchoring devices. For example, existing anchoring devices are generally designed for only a specifically sized or shaped catheter. As a result, in a hospital or clinic setting, multiple anchors may be needed to accommodate use of different types of catheters. This adds to the cost and complexity of sourcing, inventory, storage, and selection of the anchoring devices. Accordingly, improved anchoring devices are needed which accommodate a variety of catheters and securely hold the catheters in place.